A Surprise in Russia (Rewritten)
by Eli H. Lee
Summary: (Rewrite of A Surprise in Russia) After having two cousins of Alex's and a friend of theirs join the circus before heading to Russia, Vitaly the tiger becomes suspicious of this Rosella. Something about her eyes just doesn't seem right. Be invited onto a tour with adventure, romance, and family as Vitaly learns about the lioness who conjures spirits... wait, what?
1. Chapter 1

Well…. I am rewriting A Surprise in Russia…

Why you may ask?

Author improvement thingy.

Now, for those new to this, I am leaving the old A Surprise in Russia out just for you guys to compare if you want to.

Also, I changed my pen name if you haven't notice.

Eli H. Lee

* * *

Six months since the zoosters joined the circus have past, and by all means, it almost felt normal. Yes, having new members of the circus, all who were from a zoo, felt normal to the other animals. They had already toured much of America and are now actually doing their third trip from city to city. And with the six past months, couples have bloomed and grew. There were the elephants, Gloria and Melman, Alex and Gia, Julien and Sonya (a mystery on why to this very day), and Marty and the triplets.

Vitaly thought on all of this as he practiced his knife throwing, the train heading towards St. Louis. The elephants, Maria and Harold, everyone knew about them and their unborn calf at the moment. The triplets all with Marty seemed odd at first but given the triplet's behavior, it wasn't much a surprise really. Julien and Sonya were just…. Odd, plain and simply really. Sappy even on Julian's part. Gloria and Melman were thinking of adoption during this third trip and Vitaly could already see that their relationship was caused by being childhood friend in the beginning.

On that last thought, the Siberian tiger threw his knife with more force than the others before hand, slightly jealous that he no longer had that.

And then Alex and Gia… Oh Slavic Gods, out of anyone his little Gia could have picked to be in a relationship with, it had to be Alex. Now, don't get him wrong, the tiger had nothing against the lion personally… ok maybe he did with the whole circus lie and all, so Vitaly still had some trust issues with the guy. Or more so, his species. And now he and Gia were dating….

Three more knives and a sword hit the wall.

Vitaly could only mutter something about the fact that it was so obvious that this was Alex's first relationship.

The tiger began thinking again as he picked up another sword. Actually in speaking, or thinking really, of the lion, he's been acting… odd lately. Even more odd than the Russian could actually think the lion as. The lion seemed to be keeping something from him actually… actually a lot of the members of the circus seemed to be hiding something now that he thought about it. Before he could think on it anymore though, Vitaly heard the door to his train car open to reveal Stefano with a wide grin on his face.

"I thought-a that you would-a like to know that we are-a only a day's trip from Las Vegas."

Vitaly raised an eyebrow as he folded his arms, staring at the sea lion in confusion. "Las Vegas? We vere supposed to be in day's trip of San Diego!" He said, only to get a confused expression from Stefano.

"But, Alice's cousins and their friend, they are-a here in-a Las Vegas and everyone-a has a talked about them being new members and-a, -Oh!" the brown eyes light up in realization. "Oh, Vitaly you didn't-a know? No wonder-a why Marty seemed to uncomfortable when telling-a me. But of course, I don't-a see why no one told-a you, except-a for of course that- Uh oh.." Stefano paused before hurrying out of Vitaly cart, the reason being Vitaly's expression of shock and confusion rapidly turning into one of anger.

**"ALEX!"**

* * *

Yeah…. Alright, I only own OCs here, again.

And I want to state something. One of the major changes I made to this story is Rosalina's (now Rosella) and Ayo's connection to Alex. While they are brother and sister to each other, both of them are now Alex's double first cousin.

I know this sounds like a strange change, but I want to point out something. And it has actually been on my mind for some time when I was first notified of the small problem and when looking at other versions of Alex's other relatives. And let me make it clear, I _am_ very well aware that I may sound… a bit of a hypocrite, given the fact that I did place Ayo and Rosella in this position.

Alex having siblings. I know this doesn't sound like any sort of problem at first but then thinking also got in as well…

Would Zuba and Florrie really have had another child? Especially after losing one and not taking the risk of losing another? Really think on that. We fans have always made excuses for any Alex siblings we make, but have we ever really thought on Zuba's and Florrie's POV on the matter?

But then, when I decided to not do that during this rewrite for my old story, I then wondered two things: How else could the OC lion I had be related to Alex like I wanted still wanted them to? And who would be Zuba's and Florrie's heir if Alex wouldn't be? And don't act like you really thought Alex was going to be the future Alpha lion anytime soon. Yes, I also thought of it, but it actually makes more sense that he isn't next in line. For one, Alex _has_ been away from the reserve since cub hood, and who ever would be the heir after Alex originally probably would feel a bit cheated if Alex was to be the next Alpha. And we already know Alex and his friends weren't staying in Africa, no matter how many fanfictions we fans would make before Madagascar 2.

This is where the idea of cousins came into play. Lions are usually born in litters of two or three, with litters of one cub being rare. So, one _would_ assume that either Florrie and/or Zuba would have at least a brother or sister, or even more than one sibling.

Hence, Rosella and Ayo. (And yes, to those who read The Journey to The Pride of River Crater, Shani's relation is also changed.)

Also, other things about Rosella and Ayo, and of course other characters that were changed will be revealed in later chapters.

Also, I'm rewriting Rivals to Allies, which is my Rise of the Guardians story, and writing a Great Mouse Detective story while writing this one as well. So please, please, please, please, **please **do not ask me when my next update is. I am going to be rather busy with whatever time I get, and for about 10 to 9 more days, that's going to be very little time itself.

All I ask is for reviews.

Eli out.


	2. Chapter 2

I only own OCs.

Eli H. Lee

* * *

"**ALEX!"**

"Gia!"

The jaguar paused for a moment to see Alex running towards her and hiding behind her, Gloria, and Marty as Vitaly chased him.

"What's a going on?"

"Vhat is zhis about new circus members!?"

Silence fell upon all the occupants of the circus (that were nearby anyway) as they stared at the scene. Some looked around awkwardly, others moving uncomfortably. Seeing the giant tiger pissed off at this was something they knew would come, just not this soon.

"We… we couldn't have told you. We wanted it as a surprise," one of the dogs said nervously, a fake smile plastered onto his face. Vitaly held his glare as he gazed at all of them. "It's… eh… emm…"

"Ok, we were afraid that you'd take it the wrong way since two of them are also… lions," Marty admitted, looking to the side towards as he tried to look at Alex. Vitaly stood out straight and crossed his arms, his emerald eyes still narrowed.

"Stefano zaid zhe lions vere Alex's cousins," he growled causing everyone to look at the sea lion who chuckled nervously. Everyone else shook their heads before meeting Vitaly's gaze. Marty shifted uncomfortably.

Alex luckily spoke up a bit here. "I owed one of them a favor and my uncle and aunt both said that I had to make up for leaving Africa so soon," he explained, rubbing the back of his mane as the tiger raised an eyebrow before stomping off grumbling something in Russian under his breath. The lion leaned over to Gia's ear quietly, whispering, "Do I want to know what he's saying?" The spotted feline looked at her boyfriend with her amber brown eyes before shaking her head.

"Probably-a not."

"Ok then."

….

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas,

A young teenage male lion, with brownish gold fur and his preteen mane a light golden color juggled three bowling pins in his paws, his dark blue eyes gleefully looking over to his older sister nearby. She herself was a reddish brown gold with a dorsal stripe down her back. She had a long fur tuff that went over her blind eye while she watched her brother with her remaining good, indigo colored eye. She wore some bracelets around her wrists and a neck wrap decorated with beads and feathers. Unlike her brother, who had a rounded black nose, she had an angular rosy pink nose.

"How am I doing, Sis?" the brother asked, grinning as he went back to looking and concentrating on his juggling.

"Wonderful, Ayo, wonderful," she said, smiling kindly to the teenager before placing some vials in a bag. She held another one up, staring into the misty green contents. "I'm sure the circus will be glad to have you as a juggler when we join." Ayo looked over to his sister before catching the pins and skipping over towards her.

"What about you, Ro? Cousin Al did say that their tiger is a bit more to the traditional side, as well as," Ayo scrunched up his nose as he continued, "Russian." He looked up to Rosella, for that was her (American) name, as she thought.

"Probably dance, do a few charms to bring us luck and such," she said, causing the younger lion to look disappointed. She chuckled the moment she saw it though and ruffled her paw through his somewhat mane. "Don't worry, suga'," she said, giving what seemed to be a genuine smile in her southern accent. "I'll try and find a way to show off in the end. Family curse and all. Now go pack up your things or we'll forget something of yours… again."

As Ayo ran off to do so, Rosella's smile fade down to a true, sorrowful frown as she went back to her vials. "And hopefully before my monster takes ahold of me again as well," she whispered, gripping the last vial so tight that it broke in her paw, causing the glass to cut into it. She hissed painfully and quickly dropped it, letting the contents of what looked like blue smoke touch the floor as she went to bandage her paw. The smoke stayed among the ground for a moment before turning into small wisps trailing off into the darkness.

* * *

Yes, chapter 2 is now done. Wish me luck on chapter 3 and please review.

Also, I am too lazy now to note differences. Good day and good night.


	3. Chapter 3

Only own OCs, I do.

Yeah… I shouldn't try to sound like Yoda anytime soon.

Eli H. Lee

* * *

When they got to their stop, the whole circus saw two lions and a golden furred, blue-green eyed female fossa waiting for them on the outskirts of the city. The young teenage lion who Alex introduce as his cousin Ayo carried a small bag over his shoulder with a Cheshire grin across his face, unnerving some of the circus residents. The lioness who was introduced as Rosella carried a huge box and bag within her paws. Aya, the female fossa, had with her a little box. A very little box decorated with feathers on the side.

As the three newcomers were being greeted by the rest of the circus, Vitaly stood back and observed their behavior. Aya, while not able to speak prefect English, seemed to be very chatty, especially with Stefano, as she gladly told of the three's adventure of New Orleans to Las Vegas and the family of white lions that they stayed with while they waited for the circus to come1. Ayo was showing off his juggling act for the others while giving the same Cheshire grin. The grown tiger rolled his green eyes at this, getting the impression that the young lion was just as much as a show off as Alex, probably even more. Rosella on the other hand (or paw) actually seemed more distance, giving small, quick and uneased glances at everyone unlike everyone else. Vitaly perked up an ear when Gia held out her paw to shake the lioness's unbandage one only for the lioness to hesitate at the gesture. Her wounded paw also popped up question, the only answer she was giving being that she cut it on some broken glass.

All of the sudden, Rosella snatched her bag from one of the dogs who were trying to see what was in it and growled at them. Everyone stared at the scene as Rosella's fully black marked ears went back in embarrassment.

"I'm… I'm just going to put my belongings away," she quickly said, running off before anyone could say anything.

"What's her problem?" Freddie said, crossing his arms as he made a face. Ayo, no longer having his grin on, looked to which car his sister had ran off to as Alex leaned towards him and whispering something. Ayo nodded and shrugged at the same time.

Vitaly also looked to see which cart the lioness had took off and went into before seeing it was Gia's and supposedly Aya's. While everyone else was starting to go back to talking to the other two new members, which Vitaly thought was odd giving the question of why Alex and Ayo go after the lioness, the tiger went to go and tell her which cart of hers.

However when he opened the cart door, the Siberian saw the reddish brown golden lioness taking out small vials of odd liquids and… smoke? Ok, he had the idea that she was probably into… voodoo by her accessories, but this was really pushing his great dislike of such things. He coughed deeply to get her attention.

Her face lifted up as if in fear and he noticed that she shifted herself away from him. His eyes shifted to her blind eye and then to her wounded paw before back to her face in general.

"I.. I was just-"

"Vrong cart. You are closer to back of train," he said as she began to quickly pick the vials back up. One with a purple liquid dropped however and broke. Vitaly stood for a moment as Rosella seem to begin to panic as she picked up the pieces quickly and saving what of the liquid that she could. He didn't hear many stories of where 'magic' did any good, so keeping his distance was probably best. However one of the glass shards cut into the bandaged paw, making Rosella hiss in pain. He began to question in his mind if this lioness just happened to be Alex's sister instead of Ayo's and someone just messed something up around the time.

"Here, let me see zhe damage," he said, walking over carefully to her. When he nearly touched her though, she quickly cringed away, almost jumping to the other wall as she took short, quick breaths. "Vhat?"

"Hey, Ro, you should probably know that…" Alex stopped as he stood in the doorway, staring at the sight in front of him, Vitaly on his knees in front of some vials and his cousin holding her paw and cringing against the wall. It seemed to take only a few seconds to realize what had happened. "Vitaly, you probably want to leave."

"Vhy? And vhy is she-?"

"Just go, I'll handle this."

…

Rosella, after being convinced to let Melman bandage her paw, kept herself in her (proper) cart for the rest of the day and half-way through the next. In the meantime, plans for the show to get them to Russia were underway.

"So what is-a Rosella's act-a?" Stefano asked, as everyone, except the lioness in question of course, was gathered around the table that had the penguins and the plans. The penguins looked at the sea lion with raised eyebrows.

"Excuse me?" Skipper said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What's-a Rosella's act-a? Because-a Ayo is going to-a juggle and Aya is-a going to dance with-a Gloria and-a Melman, shouldn't Rosella get-a an act?"

"She doesn't have one," Alex said, earning stares from many circus members. Seeing this, the grown lion sighed deeply before explaining. "Rosella's not…," he paused for a moment as if trying to find the right words. "…Comfortable with crowds."

"Then why is she here then?"

Alex's silence took over as he glared at one of the dogs. "It's…"

"Complicated," Ayo finished, playing around with a small pen nearby.

* * *

1) I want everyone here to put in their reviews of who those white lions were. Just guess. Really. I'm totally serious on this.

So that was the 3rd chapter and it is now two day until the next expansion for World of Warcraft comes out. Yay! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Again, I only own OCs.

Eli. H. Lee

* * *

Gia snuck quietly in the night as the train keep moving. Unlike Alex, she was used to traveling on top of the train and was very familiar with how to get to one cart to another when still traveling.

Her destinations at the moment were the following;

Check up on how Ayo and Vitaly were getting along.

Strangely enough planning of where Ayo was going to stay was still in debate as Alex had continually made it a fact that Rosella was going to have her own cart, though he wouldn't say the reasons. So, while things were still being figured out, Ayo would ironically be staying with Vitaly. The jaguar however wanted to make sure her adoptive big brother and her (technically) cousin-in-law were getting along well due to not only the fact that Vitaly has yet to actually put trust in any lion what so ever, but also because the teen lion also had a mistrust towards Russians (which she thought was an odd mistrust really).

Find any of Vitaly's hidden borscht, probably in the trophy cart, and dispose of it. The tiger was getting really depressed and Gia had a bad feeling he was back on the soup.

Check up and see if she could learn anything about Rosella.

Gia thought it was very odd that Alex didn't mention much of his family. Granted, she did make up a few theories why, with the first one being that he didn't have a happy cub-hood. But that was dumped when Marty told her that her boyfriend had actually just learned of his true family around a year before the ex-zoosters met the circus. In fact, from the lion's friends, Gia actually learned a lot more from another view of what he was like as well as what had happened before meeting him.

But Alex keeping secrets about his family was still somewhat odd to her, especially about these two cousins of his. Why only two? When the news came out of them wanting to come, along with a friend of theirs, Alex had revealed that he did in fact come from a rather big family, despite being an only cub himself. So why were only two cousin joining? And then Rosella having no part of their show also raised a few question to her. And why was it complicated?

Gia stopped and knocked on the top of Vitaly's (and Ayo's) cart before hearing a "Come on in" and jumping in.

"Ciao! I wanted to-a check up on how-a you two were doing," she said, smiling at both felines. The sight that greeted her didn't surprise her much on the other hand. Both males were glaring at each other from their own respective beds. Her smile faded and she sighed. "Look-a, can't-a you two be friendly?" Ayo, not Vitaly to one's surprise, grunted. "So you two are-a just going-a to just glare-a at each other?"

Both nodded in response. Gia sighed and shook her head. "At least…try-a to make-a conversation. Please?" And with that, the jaguar jump up and closed the top of the cart before moving on.

Both remaining cats stayed silent before Vitaly spoke up. "You know _durak_?" Ayo blinked before shifting uncomfortably.

"No."

"Come on, I'll zeach you."

…..

Strangely enough, Gia couldn't find any borscht. Either Vitaly hadn't any around for once, or he's gotten better at hiding them. Next stop; Rosella's cart, two carts away from the trophy cart.

…..

"Look, I know that he seems… threatening, but if you just give the members here a chance."

"Melba, please, I don't need this talk again!" Rosella covered her ears as she said this, trying to block out the Kongo loa that sat on the crate nearby. A black mamba in shape with an amber glow around her as well as having glowing, pupiless white eyes.

"Well you wanted to come here with Ayo and Aya, especially joining Alex here! The least you can do is be familiar with the circus members. Heck, the Gia girl is pretty much part of the family now!" Melba said, moving her coils so that it looked like she was crossing her 'arms.' The lioness huffed and crossed her own arms while looking away. "Malu-"

"Don't call me by that name!" Rosella yelled, glaring at the spirit. "You know well enough that I've grown to hate that name!" Melba waited as the lioness try to become less tense. A knock on top of the cart didn't help any.

Both paused until hearing Gia's voice saying, "Rosella?" The female in question tensed up before noting Melba's encouraging look. Sighing, Rosella said, "Come on in, Gia…" and urged Melba away before the jaguar entered. The loa shook her head and disappeared into a mist.

Gia smiled at Rosella when she jumped in, only to earn an unsure one from the other female. Looking around, the Italian took in Rosella's way of decorating her cart. "So, you-a are into the 'voodoo,' I see," she said, gazing around some more. "It-a looks very nice-a." The other feline raised an eyebrow at Gia's curiosity.

"Was there… err... something that you needed?"

Gia looked over at her, one of her ears twitching as she stared for a moment. "What did-a you wanted to-a do for an act?" Rosella looked away and played slightly with one of her bracelets.

"I… didn't think about it, really…. I'm not really good at anything… performancy." Gia's curious stare didn't lighten up, instead, the jaguar actually tilted her head and sat down as Rosella's words. "Besides… I.. I don't do well in crowds."

"Shy?"

"…Sort of."

"Why-a?"

Rosella looked up in surprise before looking towards the bookshelf that was in the cart. "It's…. complicated." Gia huffed and pouted as she crossed her arms.

"All of you-a keep-a saying that! First Alex, then-a Ayo, then Marty, then Melman, then Gloria,.." Gia went on listing the names in that annoyed tone as Rosella listened and leaned back against the wall. Ok, so this Gia girl didn't seem so bad. Maybe a little too curious for her own comfort, but she could see herself getting used to her.

"So what-a was Afrika like?" Rosella perked her ears as the new question. The indigo-eyed lioness thought for a moment, wondering how to put the words right.

"You, um… you know those movies they like to make? About everyone living in harmony and that?" she asked, earning a nod from Gia. "Well… it's not really like that. Sure there's… some areas like that, but there's not really a whole lot of them. Granted, you um… you probably might get a.. a better answer from Ayo. I'm a bit... biased when the topic comes up."

"Oh," Gia spoke becoming quiet for a bit before coming up with another question. "What-a about your-a family?"

"Let me put it this way, I'm the seventh cub between my … my parents, with one older twin brother, one older sister and four more older brothers. Then came Ayo and his three littermates… you already know Alex's my cousin, and," Rosella paused for a moment as if trying to think. "Shani and Lani are our two other cousins."

"That-a sounds like a lovely generation of-a the family," Gia giggled though the sarcasm was clear as day. Rosella nearly laughed before looking to the side again.

"Yes, well… to be honest, I really didn't… spend much time with most of them."

"Why-a not?"

"'Birds of the same feather flock together.' If… one were to think on that, then Alex, Ayo, and I weren't really of the same feather as the rest of the family… except for Uncle Zuba and Aunt Florrie, but that goes with events then." Gia leaned forward from where she sat, wanting to hear more on this.

"That-s is why from such-a big family only you and-a Ayo join circus then!" The statement this time made Rosella laugh.

"Yes, exactly. It… it's just easier being around Alex and Ayo compared to the rest of the family. Aside from family, not a lot of other lions would actually… like us, I guess. I mean, or one thing for sure, Ayo already put others on edge, and Alex… well, you're dating him, you probably already know how he likes to perform. And I was destined at birth to be in for bad luck…" Gia's ears perked at the last statement.

"You-a don't seem any different from-a other lions."

Rosella smiled at her genially this time. "Gia… I hope you never go to Africa."

* * *

Ok, now I really, really, should get to my other stories! ….

Leave a review if you want more.


	5. Chapter 5

I only own OCs.

Eli H. Lee

* * *

At the next stop, everyone found it to their amazement at how Gia was trying to help Rosella pick her own part of the act. The jaguar was picking many acts, each of them being shyly rejected by the lioness. Vitaly watched from a distance, reading the lioness's body language. Alex stood nearby, also watching carefully on how his cousin and girlfriend were interacting. The tiger looked to the side at him, raising an eyebrow at his behavior.

"Vhat is she good at?"

"Singing."

Vitaly frowned. That act was out of the question. It wasn't as if humans understand what any of them even said to begin with. "Nothing else?"

The corner of the lion's mouth twitched slightly, looking to the side at the tiger. "She… When we were younger, before they transferred her, she would try to hula-hoop," he said, wincing a bit as he seemed to be remembering something. Vitaly looked back to Gia and Rosella, the jaguar now showing the lioness a bunch of hoops. He looked back at Alex, pointing his thumb at Rosella while raising an eyebrow.

"Vhy you think zhat is not good act for her?"

"Because she's not comfortable with crowds and…"

"By looks of it, she seems to vant to be part of act."

"And the last time she tried to that, she ended up tripping on the thing and landed…" Alex paused for a moment, trying to find the right words before continuing with, "wrong." Vitaly stared at him for a moment. The lion sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "She landed on a root and ended up scratching her eye when she did." Vitaly was about to say something but was interrupted when Gia ran over, leading Rosella by the paw and hugged Alex.

"We-a found an act-a for Rose!" she yelled, causing Alex's face to go pale in Vitaly's eyes. "She'll be-a doing the-a fire hooping!" Now it was Vitaly's turn to seem pale.

"Vhat?"

"Oh, don't-a worry Vitaly. She's-a not taking your-a place."

"I'm …just going to be dancing with some fire hoops," Rosella explained, smiling a small bit at them. Gia giggled and twirled Alex around with her.

"Doesn't it-a sound great!" she exclaimed before she turned suddenly to Vitaly. "Oh, and Vitaly, you don't-a mind helping Rosella with her-a act? You know-a, due to your-a own act." Before Vitaly could answer, the penguins decided that moment to make an announcement.

"Alright everyone, we have the chance of another tour, in another country!" Skipper yelled, getting anyone's attention.

"Great, and just at this situation…" Alex mumbled, causing Rosella's ears to flick.

"Now, if we win this contract, we'll be going Russia!"

"NO!" Everyone turned to Ayo and, for some reason, Vitaly. Ayo looked over from where he, Marty, and Stefano were to look back at Vitaly. "Why are you saying no? You're Russian! You're adapted to that freezing country!"

"Ayo!" Alex hissed.

Vitaly growled slightly before crossing his arms. "I do not vant to run into any of my family."

"To bad, you two, we're going to try and win that contract!"

* * *

…. I have no excuse on why this one is so late.

Eli out.


	6. Chapter 6

Again, I only own the OCs!

Eli H. Lee

* * *

"Please, Vitaly!"

"She does not seem to vant-"

"Dude, I don't care if she gets uncomfortable around you! Aside from me, Gia, Cousin Al, and Cousin Al's friends, you're really going to be the only one in this circus that she'll most likely warm up to!" Ayo yelled, the train now moving to their next stop for training. "That, and you're the only one who has any experience with fire to begin with! And hoops! But mostly fire!" Vitaly sighed, resting against the wall.

"Vhy would your sister 'varm up' vith me zee most?"

"Because you have stripes!"

Vitaly raised an eyebrow at the statement before growling. "Dude, it's not an insult. Well… ok, if you were a lion, it would be, but you're not. You're a tiger. That's natural… for you," Ayo continue, pacing back and forth as he talked, moving his paws around as well. "And besides, if the two of you **do** get along, she probably might also be more comfortable too. You know, since of your position among the others and-"

"Vhat?"

"You know, your position! The others look to you as a sort of an alpha! A leader!" Vitaly narrowed his eyes as he started to twirl a knife in his paw. Ayo sighed and rubbed his paws through his semi-mane. "Look as it this way, if this circus was a lion pride, you'd be considered its Alpha. Since in a lion pride, Rosella would be shunned, that would mean that her only 'true' protection would to be on good terms with you, the Alpha."

"Zee penguins are zee owners," the tiger stated, an unamused look across his face. "Zhey vould be 'Alpha' then, da?" Ayo sighed as he shook his head.

"Nope… well, maybe. But you're considered the circus leader, you're the guy everyone looks up to, you even got the posture of an Alpha that would command respect! In fact…" Ayo looked at him for a long pause before continuing with, "Are you sure you're not a lion that just never grew his mane and painted stripes on him?"

The teen quickly dodge the three knives.

"I missed."

…..

Meanwhile in Aya's and Stefano's chart…. (About time too…)

"So this Circus before fire accident?" the fossa asked, looking at the photo album the sea lion was showing her.

"_Si_! Here-a is when-a Gia had joined the-a circus. She was-a such a little _bambino_. Oh, and-a this was-a shortly after Vitaly did his-a first hoop act with-a the small hoops!" As Stefano went on explaining each picture, Aya quickly noticed one of the pictures containing Vitaly and a tigress that had red eyes and wore a strange hat.

"Who be that?"

Stefano looked at the picture she was pointing at and frowned slightly. "Natalia… She was-a Vitaly's wife." Aya perked her ears and stared at Stefano for a moment before looking back to the picture.

"Did she die?"

"No… she-a left with-a musician shortly-a after Vitaly's accident." Aya stared at the photo for a moment, confusion taking her for a moment.

"W-Why? He… he need her help then," she said, looking back at her new roommate. "Did they have problems?" Stefano shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't-a know."

* * *

*Sigh*… Finally got somewhat of a building up for Stefano's and Aya's future relationship (shouldn't surprise anyone). Also, I have accepted Natalia as the name for Vitaly's wife…

By the way, favorite if you agree with Ayo on the whole conversation he had with Vitaly.

Eli out.


	7. Chapter 7

I only own OCs! And I'm so happy you people review and like this story so much! Thank you!

Eli H. Lee

* * *

"See!? This is a perfect way for you to get along with everyone!"

"Melba… please… don't. Just… don't." Rosella said, finishing moving some bottles before picking up some new hoops up in her paws. The Snake spirit tilted her head in confusion.

"Why? The Alpha of the circus is training you to be part of your own act!"

"He's not the Alpha."

"He's just as much as one. The others seem to respect him, holds a very controlling presence around him, and if his act says anything, he seems to be the type of person to take risks. Not to mention, rather handsome… for his kind..." Rosella froze for a moment, a full face blush clearly showing on her face before turning around to gawk at the Loa.

"MELBA!"

"What? I'm being honest. Plus, as with his position as the main attraction there is even more of a chance that-"

"You sound just like my mother and father when I went back to Africa."

"I was going to say that with his position, he could offer you protection," Melba scoffed, looking at her friend at her own rude comment. Rosella rolled her eyes, covering her still red face with one of her paws. The sound of the other giggling at her action caused the lioness to glare back of the only other occupant in the cart. "You should see your face though. It looks like as if you were nearly placed in a –"

"Rosella?"

The two were interrupted as Vitaly opened the door. Facing the tiger, Melba's eyes quickly widen as Rosella's ears went back. A long, rather _awkward_ silence stood between the three of them. Vitaly's glare towards Melba didn't go unnoticed as Rosella spoke up.

"Vitaly, this… this is Melba. Melba, as you know… this... this is Vitaly."

"She iz a spirit."

"Well, not really…."

"I'm a Loa, there's a difference."

"I zee no difference."

"Vitaly, please…"

"Lesson begins," the tiger sneered, glaring daggers at Melba still. "I vill vait outside." Melba stared over at Rosella as she went to follow Vitaly.

"I'll see you after the lesson, Melba."

…..

"Ve will see vhat you can do with normal hoops first," Vitaly said, crossing his arms as Rosella approached him. Rosella looked at him before starting her dancing. Despite keeping a straight face, the tiger had to admire the fact on how graceful the lioness was. He threw over two smaller hoops, causing Rosella to try to catch them while keeping with the dance. This pattern kept going on for a while, until it came to the point where Rosella had to be closer to Vitaly with each hoop that the ten hoop caused her to fall over and nearly knock him down as well. Rosella looked up at him shyly, only to find him with a slight smile.

"You did vell for first try. Try again."

* * *

I'm… I'm not even placing an excuse on why this is late. Just review please.

Eli out.


	8. Chapter 8

I only own OCs. Also, chapter contains Swahili words.

Eli H. Lee

* * *

Rosella's training with Vitaly continued for the next few weeks as the rest of the circus tried to prepare for the show they would show the promotor. Though the lioness was told she was doing fine, Vitaly wouldn't let her try with fire hoops and she was finally at the end of patience.

"Why!?"

"Vhy vhat?" he asked, putting away some of the hoops away in one of the prop carts.

"Why won't you let me finally dance with the fire hoops?! It's supposed to be part of my act anyways! So why won't you help me with!?" Vitaly placed his paw up to her mouth… or more so her face as she kept talking into it, muffling whatever she was saying. The tiger gave a stern expression at her. Releasing his grip on her, he crossed his arms as Rosella pouted and placed her arms on her hips.

"You not ready."

"Yes I am!"

"_Nyet_."

"_Ndyio!_" Vitaly narrowed his eyes at her. While working with Rosella, the lioness managed to gain some social skills, despite how small they were. However, one of the consequences of such was that at time Rosella would now just start talking Swahili. Which didn't help the fact that this happened the most around Vitaly, who could really only tell the meaning behind them by her body language.

"_Nyet._ You are not ready."

"_Ndyio,_ I am!" This time she stood closer to him, keeping her ears back as her dark eyes seem to burn. "We've been at this for _wiki tisa!_ I am very much ready for at least a progression in the training!" If he had been in a better mood, Vitaly might have been impressed by her determination. He held her chin with one of his paws, his own eyes burning down at her.

"And ve vill progress. But now? _Nyet._ You are not ready. It vill be more weeks until zhen."

"Rosella! I need-a your help! How do-a the foosas ask a..?" Stefano decided to come at that moment and stared at the sight before him. Vitaly and Rosella looked at the sea lion, who was looking at them oddly. "Erm… Was I-a … interrupting something-a?" It took the moment for the two felines to realize what position they were in looked like and quickly moved away from each other.

"N…No, Stefano. You weren't," Rosella said, following Stefano to help him with whatever he needed help with. Vitaly, however, didn't miss determined look that flashed across her face.

He will need to keep an eye on her.

….

"Alright. I like it! We start with the star and end with a bang!"

"What?"

Ayo looked at the circus plan that the penguins were going over. Skipper rolled his eyes at the young lion. "We're having Vitaly starting the performance as usual and Rosella end it off," Private explained, clapping his flippers together. Ayo frowned slightly, seemingly worried.

"But, why not have her part of the rest of the performance?"

"Less lightly a chance to mess up."

"But…"

"No Buts."

* * *

Yeah… short chapter.

No excuse.

Now everyone review!

Eli out.


	9. Chapter 9

I only own OCs. And hey! A chapter mostly on Melba!

Eli H. Lee

* * *

Melba hummed a small tune as she and some 'others' began brewing something in the cauldron. Of course, the 'others' were really other spirits in the form of wispy smoke of blues, blacks, purples, and greens. In fact, the only other one of the strange crowd that had a clear form was a Ghede loa who had to form of a swan and went by the name Rudo. Rosella was off training with Vitaly again, though Melba knew very well from talking with her that he has yet to let her progress.

Which was why Melba asked Rudo and other spirits for a little bit of… help. Just a little boost, a little… push for Vitaly to let Rosella to go further. A potion should do. Unfortunately, she herself was untalented in potion making, having been a loa as someone to connect to her living friend. Hence Rudo and friends.

Though now as they were stirring the ingredients, she was beginning to question Rudo's choice. To be honest, Vitaly was nearly a complete mystery to Melba. Sure, she knew he was technically the star of the circus and that he was now mentoring Rosella… but that was it, aside from what Rosella would tell her. As far as Melba knew, any kind of potions would have done the trick. But Rudo, true to the meaning of her name, decided a minor love potion. _Minor_ love potion.

It was too late to turn back, but Melba was concerned. Even if spirits couldn't smell, she could see the fumes were much more powerful than what was needed. And what Rosella would do when she found out about this…

If she wasn't a Loa, she would be deader than all the spirits in the current room.

"Vitaly, come on, the next show is in less than a week!"

"You can vait!"

"Oh come on! We're going to need to at least know if the audience even likes the act!"

"You can vait!"

Many of the spirits froze at the sound of the two felines' voices. As most of them turned slowly to look at the door, Melba saw a small few (and Rudo) scoop some of the potion into a bottle.

"I get more hoop."

"But they're-"

"I know."

Vitaly opened the door and froze at the sight of the spirits before them. Melba gulped slightly and shifted a bit. An awkward silence fell over them, the tension becoming thicker than fog created by dry ice in salt water.

"Vitaly? You're not still distrustful of Melba, are you?"

The Loa almost was relieved at the lioness's obliviousness at what really was going on. Vitaly made a strange face then, the fumes of the potion clearly making it uncomfortable. "She-"

"KEEP HIM QUIET!" Rudo yelled, several spirit joining the Ghede loa in tackling the tiger, leading many to end up outside the cart in front of the lioness.

"Wait! Make sure he doesn't get..."

The sound of glass breaking cut Melba off, causing her to look outside at the damage. Serveral spirits had vanish due to the sunlight while others rushed to the shade or darkness inside the cart. Rosella was helping Vitaly up, a bizarre and confused expression on her face while Vitaly seemed to be trying to spit and wipe off whatever was left of the love potion Rudo had placed in the now broken bottle that laid on the ground near the other Loa and tiger. Both Loas now looked in fear at the realization now took hold of them. Vitaly had tasted some of the potion… right in front of Rosella.

They were going to become deader than the dead real quick.

* * *

*sigh*…. Alright, I want everybody who reads this to put in their reviews on what they think Vitaly's going to act like under the influence of the potion. Well, aside from the obvious. After all, everybody's different. Not everyone's going to act like Pepe le Pew when it comes to romance… though I think Rosella would defiantly act like Penelope now that I think about it.

Also, what do you think about Melba? I think it's about time I gave her a little spotlight.

And don't worry, Vitaly's going to get cured in about two or three chapters.


	10. Chapter 10

I only own Ocs…. And dang did I need to get back on this. My excuse on this though is the fact that I've taken to illustrating for a book. So, yeah, updates will be late. Also, I am so going to butcher Vitaly in this. And there is gonna be a whole lot of translating here.

Eli H. Lee

* * *

Vitaly stared at the lioness before him as the effects of the small taste of love potion started to take over. Not that he knew of course, all that the tiger was aware of was Rosella looking concern at him. How hadn't he noticed the way her brows quivered or how ruffled the fur on her face was before now? Had her eyes always looked like the night or-?

"Vitaly? Vitaly? Are you ok? Vitaly are you even listening to me?"

When did her voice started sounding to sweet? Vitaly felt a smile creep up on his face. He began standing up, his eyes still on her. Now looking down at her, he couldn't resist cupping her chin with his paw. "Of course I am listening. Vhy vould I not pay attention to you, _moya lyubov'_?" The look on her face made him chuckle.

Rosella on the other hand was shocked and becoming even more concerned at her mentor's words. She didn't need to know Russian to understand the last part of his question, not when the tone of his voice and gesture said it for her. She took a step back, looking past the tiger to look at Melba and the other spirit with her. They had panicked looks on their faces before meeting her eyes. She saw Melba mouth the words "potion wasn't done" to her…. Oh no….

"_MIlaya moya_, vhat is wrong?" Apparently she had given a panicked expression a chance to show on her face. Vitaly looked behind him and glared at the loas before looking back at her, gripping her closer to him. "Do not vorry about them, _dorogaya moya. YA budu derzhat' vas v bezopasnosti ot nikh,_" he whispered. Rosella's eyes widen and tried to back away.

'_Please don't, please don't, please don't, please don't, please don't, please don't…'_

Vitaly smiled and kissed her.

Only to have Rosella punched him in the mouth and ran into her cart, shutting the door behind her. Vitaly staggered a bit, the paw that had been caressing her chin now one his lower jaw. A chuckle escaped from his lips.

Apparently, one can learn some new things about themselves any day.

And he just found out that he liked getting punched by Rosella.

…

Rosella glared at the loas in front of her.

"Rosella, I'm sorry, I just thought that-"

"Melba, now it not the time! Now what was missing from the potion?" she said, running to the other side to look at whatever books could hold the needed information.

"Just the amount of time needed to be stirred and sit for."

"Then we can just make the normal antidote, good," the lioness breathed out. Tearing out a page from the book in her paws, she looked up to where she kept such things disappointed. "Which we don't have." A knock on her cart door made her freeze up.

"Oh Roza, you know you cannot vin zhis vitte game. You cannot make me vait out here forever."

Melba and Rudo looked at each other before turning to Rosella.

"Listen, we'll distract him. You'll have to ask the others for help on the ingredients."

Rosella nodded and was out the other side as quickly as possible. Rudo glance back at the other door that was still shut. "So, what are we going to say to a tiger that drunk a love potion and is now love sick for his apprentice?"

…

"Gia! Alex!"

The jaguar and lion in question looked from the trapeze set to see the lioness run up to them in a panic.

"Rosella, what-a is wrong?" Gia asked, jumping down before finding herself being firmly held.

"It's Vitaly. Melba was making a love potion with another loa and he ended up drinking some!" Alex blinked as he jumped down as well.

"Who's Melba?" both he and Gia asked, looking confused by the mention of a loa in general.

"That doesn't matter now. Right now, Vitaly is acting as if he's in love with me and I need ingredients for the antidote! Not only that, but I need Vitaly away from me while I'm making it! Please, please say you'll help me with this? Please?"

"Wait, what-a?"

"We'll help you, Rose. We'll have to tell the rest of the circus of why we need Vitaly away from you, but we'll help you. What ingredients do you need?" Alex quickly looked at the paper that was thrusted into his paws. "Oak twigs? Slug slime? What the heck is a 'bleeding heart?'"

"Type of flower and you really only need the roots. Just, please help me with this. We can't have Vitaly jumping me during the circus act this week!"

"Alright! Alright!"

"Roza! Zhere you are, _moya luna_!"

All three felines turned to see Vitaly running towards them. Or, more so, Rosella. A voice that neither Alex nor Gia recognized but could only guess was Melba yelled out, "Sorry! He broke the door!" Quicker than anyone thought that lioness could be, Alex and Gia saw her climb up on of the poles that held up the trapeze set. Standing in front of the said pole, Alex held his paws up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey there Vitaly! Listen, my dearest cousin is a tad busy. Err... Gia and I need her to ... help us with the set and all. You know, see if there's a maximum of hoops that we could use a- hey!" The lion quickly was pushed to the side by the tiger. Vitaly smirked at the sight of the lioness at the top of it. He quickly hit against the pole, which caused Rosella to quickly lose grip and fall down into his arms bridal style.

"Ah, _moya_ _lyubov'._ _Neveroyatnyy, kak vy prekrasnaya luna mne, palyashcheye solntse, nyet? Kak by my ne vstretilis', prezhde chem prisoyedinit'sya k nashey tsirk?" _he said, holding her close to him and trying to kiss her as Rosella struggled against him. Alex gave a confused look as Gia help him up.

"Vitaly-a! Rosella still needs to help with-"Gia was quickly cut off by Rosella starting to punch and kicking the tiger. Though, that wasn't what got both hers and Alex's attention. More so, it was Vitaly smile through it.

"So… when was Vitaly into loving pain?" Alex said, glancing at his girlfriend.

"Never, from-a what I know-a."

Next hour was dealt with separating Vitaly from Rosella.

This was going to be a long week.

* * *

And every single Vitaly fan is probably sending me hate mail right now. Eh, at least it was worth the laugh.

And now I'm stuck translating the Russian that I have placed here…. F***.

_moya lyubov' – _my love

_MIlaya moya – _my darling

_dorogaya moya –_ my dear

_YA budu derzhat' vas v bezopasnosti ot nikh – _I will keep you safe from them

_moya luna – _my moon

_Ah, moya lyubov'. Neveroyatnyy, kak vy prekrasnaya luna mne, palyashcheye solntse, nyet? Kak by my ne vstretilis', prezhde chem prisoyedinit'sya k nashey tsirk? – _Ah, my love, Incredible how you are the lovely moon to me, the burning sun, no? How have we not met before you joining our circus?

Oh gods, I am so going to get hate mail.

Eli out.


	11. Chapter 11

I only own OCS!

Eli H. Lee

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. Rosa has a spirit living in her cart," Skipper began, the rest of the circus around Alex, Gia, and Rosella as the former two cats explained what was going on.

"Melba is a loa," Aya corrected.

"Whatever, and this… Melba asked for another spirit-"

"Loa," Ayo corrected this time.

"Whatever! To help make her a love potion because she thought it would help convince Vitaly to let Rosella use full on fire hoops in her first performance? And despite the fact that this potion hadn't sat long enough, Vitaly did end up drinking it, is love sick over Rosella, and now we have to not only get ingredients for the antidote, but also to keep the tiger away from Rosella so that she can concentrate on the antidote itself?" Skipper tapped his foot as he glared for a response.

"That's pretty much it," Alex said, glancing towards his older cousin. The lioness in question kept her head bowed down in shame during the entire explanation.

"And _**where-a**_ is Vitaly right now-a?" Stefano asked.

"Uh…." Alex and Gia looked at each other awkwardly.

-In the trophy cart-

Vitaly struggled against the chains holding him back and the gag in his mouth. He didn't even know that they still kept these darn things, nevertheless that Gia would know where to find them! Not that any of that information was important. Right now, he had to find his Rosella! If only he could loosen these chains on his wrists enough, he could get free.

-back with the rest of the circus-

Gia decided to reply with, "He's-a… preoccupied at the-a moment."

The rest of the circus remained quiet for a moment before one of the dogs decided to speak up.

"You put him in the chains, didn't you?"

"_Si._"

"Well, that's one problem down. For now. Ok, Rosy," Skipper began.

"Rosa."

"Whatever. Look, in case Vitaly can't be shaken out of this… problem by the time of the performance, we'll need you to perform your fire hoop dancing, alright?"

"But…"

"No buts!"

"So where do we begin on the ingredients?" Marty asked, Alex quickly pulling out the page Rosella had given him earlier. "What the heck is a 'bleeding heart' supposed to mean? It's not an actual bleeding heart, right?"

"It's a type of plant!" The lioness yelled.

"We'll also need a game plan for distracting Vitaly from Rosella. We can't keep him chained in the trophy cart forever."

"Oh come on," Ayo snickered. "He can't be THAT love sick for my sister!"

"Well…."

CRASH!

Everyone looked towards the sound, only to end up seeing the doors of the cart being slammed opened by the very tiger in question. Vitaly scanned the crowd being setting his sights on the female he had been looking for.

"Ah, Roza, _moya luna_!"

"Not-a again," Gia whined, looking at Alex the moment Rosella ended up being scooped up by the Russian.

-3 hours later-

"Ok, so he is that love sick for Rosa." Ayo said after leaving the two elephants and Sonya with a newly chained up Vitaly in a cart up near the front.

"You're sure you're going to be ok, Marty?" Gloria asked as Melman kept a cool compress on the zebra's head. "Vitaly did give you quite a beating there."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Glo. Just didn't expect him to be that possessive of well… anyone. Was he possessive like that back with that ex-wife of his?" Marty asked, looking towards Stefano and Gia with the two black eyes he now had.

Stefano shrugged, answering, "Not-a this possessive-a. Though maybe, she-a probably did not-a help with it when-a she left."

"Can we please just find a way to keep him away from me until the cure's ready?" Rosella said, pacing back and forth already within the cart. "Because the last thing anyone needs right now is a love-sick tiger singing a Russian version of _Ni Wewe Uliovuka Tanga_! And I'm afraid that's what's going to happen next!" Silence took over for a moment before the lioness even realized she had spoken a small part of her native language.

All of the sudden, Ayo and Aya started to snicker at the meaning of the very words. Stefano looked between everyone, whispering, "Eh… what's-a this 'Ni wewe uliovuka tango'?"

"_Tanga. _You mean _tanga_. And I 'think' it's a love song? You know considering the situation at hand." Marty said, honestly second guessing himself at this as well.

"I don't know, I think people would pay to see a tiger sing his so called 'love' for you, sis." Ayo smirked, snickering at the mere thought.

WHAM!

"Ok, I probably deserved that."

* * *

Well, this took forever to think out. Oh, and yes. _Ni Wewe Uliovuka Tanga_ is a actual Swahili song about romance/love. I'm actually surprised myself. And no, I did not take the time to translate it.

Eli out.


End file.
